Saturday, August 31, 2013

(Xiamen, China)- The Cal State Long Beach Sailing Team torpedoed the
competition in Xiamen, China last month as they swept their way to
victory at the first Pan-Pacific University Sailing Championship. Over
20 teams from China, Taiwan and Singapore took to the waters in their
J/80 the weekend of July 15-17 hoping to take home the gold.

“We came out swinging,” team captain Shane Young said of the team’s
mindset going into the event. “We came out expecting them all to be
top-notch sailors and we had high expectations. We went into the regatta
not expecting to win because I think when you do that you kind of shoot
yourself in the foot.”

Fortunately,
the team made the most of the school’s first international regatta by
winning all seven races hosted in Wuyuan Bay. Although the team had
never sailed those waters, Young attributed their preparedness to the
water conditions being nearly identical to the waters of Marina Del Ray
where they had practiced leading up to the trip to China.

The team tried to remain grounded as they continued to win races
throughout the weekend, but they were finally able to express their
happiness after winning the seventh and final race, which left no
question as to who was taking home the gold medal.

“When we crossed the finish line and won I just slapped the deck and
screamed,” Young said. “It was great. I got the chills. It was just
sweet.”

The victory overseas, however, almost didn’t happen.

Pressed
for time and funds, Young admitted that it came down to the final week
to raise the $12,000 it was going to cost to send the five sailors to
China. Donations from the Long Beach Yacht Club, as well as private
donors and team parents, combined with the team’s t-shirt sales
successfully financed the trip. At a banquet held last Thursday night at
the Long Beach Yacht Club to honor the victory, the team dedicated
their trophies to the donors to show their appreciation.

“That was one of the bigger accomplishments outside of sailing for our
team,” Young said of the fundraising effort. Young goes on to explain
that the team regularly struggles just to raise gas money for trips to
San Francisco, where they stay at the homes of area Yacht Club members
to save money.

Three years ago, the Cal State Long Beach sailing team was a distant
memory. The team had history, being ranked as one of best in the nation
during a portion of the 1980s, but it had become dormant before Young
and a few like-minded students decided to resurrect it. Laura Newton, a
former member of the team and co-resuscitator of the team, recalled the
growing pains.

First, there was the red tape of starting up a club sport. Then came the
recruitment process, home-making of uniforms and driving to
competitions with their dinghies strapped to the top of a sedan. Meeting
three times a week from 1-4 PM when the team would perfect their craft
required a lot of night classes and shuffling of schedules. And when
their DIY team finally got on the water, they had to gain the acceptance
of much more established teams from around the area. Read more here at Long Beach Post.com about their growing pains and sailing experiences...